People’s Alliance for Democracy’s narrow nationalism in Thailand

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From her sensible trousers to her permed hair, Punyanuch Promsiriyat, 57, is the very image of a People Power revolutionary. Dictatorships all over the world have been brought down by people like her — respectable, middle-class citizens dedicated to democracy and justice.

Mrs Punyanuch, a shopkeeper from Bangkok’s suburbs, has a flag, a T-shirt with a slogan and a cause: the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD).

For ten days thousands of its supporters have occupied Government House in Bangkok, demanding the resignation of the Thai Prime Minister, Samak Sundaravej. Students, pensioners and ladies like Mrs Punyanuch have camped out here